The current study is designed to determine the effectiveness of intensive nasogastric feeding compared with optimal oral nutrition in patients with advanced head and neck cancer who are treated with radiation therapy. The overall goal is to evaluate the effects of aggressive nutritional support on the patient's ability to tolerate and respond to radiation therapy and, in some cases, chemotherapy, as well as its effects on recurrence and survival. Questions to be studied include the relationship of nutritional status to therapeutic response, the differences between groups in caloric and protein intake, weight, amount and duration of therapy, and severity of therapy, the most effective techniques for improving patient nutrition, both orally and extra-orally; and the long-term consequences of aggressive nutritional support during short-term therapy. Patients are randomized into two groups: one receives optimal oral nutrition and the other nasogastric feedings in addition to optimal oral nutrition. Both groups will receive support for an eleven week period. Thereafter, both groups will receive identical oral nutritional support for a two year follow-up period. Information gained from this study should provide data on the efficacy of nutritional support during radiation therapy to the head and neck area and on the most effective means of delivering adequate nutrition to outpatients with head and neck cancer.